CHAPTER NINE

 

 

- Bren

Releasing the hold for the door to my room, I see Atticus standing in the hall with a tray. It holds two bowls and the makeshift comb for Hannah from engineering. They had no idea what I was referring to, so I had to create a quick mental sketch to upload for its creation.

Atticus takes a deep breath as he sees me, still naked, waving him in. Ignoring his rush in the door, which has nothing to do with my nudity, I take the tray from his hands.

Setting it on the prep area, I pick up the comb and look it over carefully.

“The scent in here is even stronger than before.” He sounds like he’s strangling.

Turning to look at him, I realize he’s backing up to the doorway behind him.

“So leave. I can’t help it.” Hannah’s scent is alluring. Combine that with her arousal, and it’s a strong and pleasing pull to our physiology. No one can fault me for taking her. We don’t pillage planets or even other ships. Information gathering is our main priority along with scientific study.

Everyone will just have to get used to the idea of her being here with me.

“There is no doubt that you’re mated.” I glance up, not surprised in the least. Of course, I know it is still a surprise for him. There is so much we still don’t know about how this will affect us all.

“Yes, but did you find out anything else? Will our bond emotionally keep getting stronger? Will the markings get larger or darker? What other effects can I expect?”

Leaning back against the door, he listens to me patiently. I’m trying not to vent but the unknown is so much worse than just having all the facts. I haven’t even mentioned how drawn I am to her body. Even now, I am replaying sinking into her wet, hot cunt. I’m driven by my instincts to mate continually. Will this stop soon?

“There is clear, basic information in my physician textbooks about what we no longer have occur and the aspects of our DNA that have gone dormant. But it’s all the physical stuff. Lack of libido and erections, no longer getting mating marks, etc. Nothing that will really help you now. It only confirms what you already knew or suspected.”

I shake my head in defeat and settle carefully onto the foot of the bed so I don’t wake Hannah up. I’m not super surprised but it’s defeating. It would have been nice to be able to tell Hannah everything, but she will be in the dark along with me. We are not alone. We have each other.

Atticus is a great friend and I know he and his partner will make sure that this gets recorded. “Does she have the markings? Do they match yours or complement them in some way?” His interest isn’t sexual, and I have to keep reminding myself of that as my breathing picks up and anger immediately floods my system.

He’s a doctor. He must document this. Over and over I repeat this to myself as I motion him closer and lift the sheet covering Hannah’s naked form. She’s on her side with her back exposed and the marks flow down the back of her neck where they wind in a spiral design to her tailbone. The colors are deep and light, shifting, moving and changing with her breathing.

The same designs come down the front of my neck and arms. They are thicker on me, but proportional to our size.

Reaching out, I run my finger along one and we watch it deepen in hue on her skin while my own markings mimic the change. They pulse. We now appear to be breathing effortlessly together.

It’s beautiful.

“It’s a miracle.” Atticus’s whispered words break me out of my reverie and the brief trance I was in. Pulling up the sheet, I move some of her hair to the side to expose her face with the lighter markings up the back of her neck that extend into her hairline.

“It is.” Her fine hair is going to work perfectly in the comb Atticus brought that we made up for her. “She is different than us. Her hair can be cut. She says it keeps it healthy. And she can’t control it by thought. But their species doesn’t appear to have nano technology.”

“It’s hard to say how the nanos will react in her. We should know in the next rotation or two if there will be any detrimental feedback.” Atticus appears thoughtful as he leans in closer and shines a light that I didn’t even realize he was holding into her ear. “You did know that coming inside her would share your nanos and give her our language, hopefully our immunities?”

Pulling her sheet up higher, I tuck it tighter around her. “I must admit I wasn’t really thinking too much about anything. Especially not the nanos. My cock was a pulsing rod, pulling me towards her.” Just thinking about it makes me hard again. “I’ve extraordinarily little control even now. How long do you suppose it will be like this?”

Standing, he runs a hand down his hair and looks thoughtful. “It’s hard to say. She smells incredible. Arousing to even an untried male like myself.”

My face is instantly hot as anger triggers a red tint to flood my field of vision.

“Calm. Breathe through it.” His low whispered commands talk directly to my psyche. Breathing hard but deep, I rest my hands on Hannah and enjoy the relaxation and peace she shares as she slumbers. He continues after I’ve taken a few more breaths and he can tell I’m more settled. “This may be the way she smells while ovulating during her cycle or it may be the way she is all the time or until she is impregnated. There is no way to tell.”

His words make sense but don’t make me feel any better. “When will I get over this rage and possessiveness? If she smells like this and is so tempting to me, it is hard to imagine that everyone doesn’t feel the same. It’s not logical how I feel!” Closing my eyes, I concentrate again on settling my libido and anger. “There must be something you can find out.” The words come from my gritted teeth as I begin to feel the calm come over me. If this keeps occurring, I’m never going to be able to let her out of this room.

“Well, I was going to tell you to contact Matthias. He’s your brother and should be the first you share this information with. He has a better chance of having access to the information you need right now too. As part of the Historians, he has clearance to the old libraries and should be able to physically go look for the information we need. If I do a search through the systems, I’m bound to set off some alarms. Why would I need to look that up? I may get questioned, or denied, and we will be under scrutiny before we need to be.”

I follow him closer to the door as he talks. “We aren’t going to be able to hide this for long. Maybe…if we are lucky, a few days? But I’m afraid that rather than share any information, they may hide or destroy it. We have the element of surprise to dig for this before they know. Lack of knowledge has always been how the council keeps us under control.”

Shaking my head, I agree with his words even though it is treason to even have this discussion. My brother, Matthias may know exactly where to get information that will help us. I haven’t spoken to him in almost a year, because he has refused my calls on most occasions.

Briefly, I ponder what I should say to get him to agree to speak.

“Worst case scenario, we stumble through this and find out everything we need to know as we go. The only thing that would be nice is knowing if this is a fluke or not. Are we compatible with humans? You had no idea?”

I know what he is asking. Did I have visions. Was I really an unwitting puppet in this too?

“No. I did have the visions. For almost a year during my daily reflections. Of her and the ship she was traveling on. Just everyday things she did, I’m assuming. I would get feedback on what she was doing. I haven’t had a chance to discuss any of this with her but when I met her, I didn’t see any recognition on her end.”

Wrapping a robe around me, I fasten the closures and try to relax. “I’m relieved to see the mating marks on her skin. It would be horrible if this was all one sided.”

Atticus laughs lightly. “Highly unlikely. Not with that scent either. She may not have had visions but those are advanced level teachings that may not be in their society. If they don’t have nano technology and Mars is the farthest they’ve traveled from their planet, we are many thousands of years ahead of them.”

We stare at each other for a moment before I break the silence. “I’ll put a post out to my brother and see if I can set up the call with him. I’ll have to tell him it’s an emergency because otherwise, I may not hear back from him. I’m sure you will be able to come up with some particular things he should be looking for in the records. Can you send me a list?” Atticus nods. “I am totally in the dark on what to expect but I can give feedback on what he finds out and if it pertains to Hannah and me.”

“That sounds great. Hurry. Sooner rather than later.”

Atticus leaves as I settle into the one chair in the room to contact Matthias. I’m certain he is unhappy. He doesn’t contact or communicate with me because he doesn’t want me to worry about him. After all, what can we do to change this aspect of our lives?

Fucking hell.